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William B. Provine, REVIEW OF ELLIOTT SOBER'S EVIDENCE AND EVOLUTION: THE LOGIC BEHIND THE SCIENCE, Evolution, Volume 63, Issue 4, 1 April 2009, Pages 1101–1102, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1558-5646.2009.00620.x
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This book is comprised of four long chapters and a brief conclusion: Evidence, Intelligent Design, Natural Selection, and Common Ancestry.
Chapter one (108 pages) on evidence asks the question, “what should we make of evidence in evolutionary biology?” Graduate students in evolutionary biology generally do not worry about this issue before getting their first data, then never escape the problem of evidence again. How will they connect their data to their theories? Elliott Sober has written this chapter for you. Are you basically a Bayesian? Or are you a frequentist? Do you trust likelihoodism? Do you distinguish causation versus close correlation? Do you think you are revealing true nature in your research? Let me say this clearly and distinctly: every graduate student in evolutionary biology must read this chapter carefully, more than once, and refer to it often. Sober has given you a great gift.
And if you have problems reading this chapter, share your issues with your professors. You may find they know little more than you about how they reason from evidence to theories. You may find they rely upon tired old Karl Popper for their views. If so, you find immediately that Sober has little use for Popper's conjectures and refutations, and has better ways for you to think about evidence. One last piece of advice. Read this chapter before you begin your graduate studies. Then read it again in graduate school. And keep in mind that Sober endorses Bayesianism, frequentism, and likelihoodism depending on the research question and the desired end.
